PBEM FAQs
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
I'm actually fairly new to the PBeM experience, but I think I've learned a fair amount in the past few months; enough so that I felt the need to write it down before it all fled the premises of my head. I hope this is helpful to someone out there. Good luck!
1. The Nature Of PBEM
a)What Are PBeMs?
PBeMs, or Play-By-eMail games are usually one of two beasts. Traditionally, the term PBM is associated with the popular global and intergalactic conquest games which use the regular mail-system. People play against one another, and send in their turns and receive updates from someone running the wargame. On the Internet, such games are flourishing because of the speed of email. Fairly recently, another kind of play-by-email game emerged.
It is this kind of game that is the subject of this article; traditional role-playing games like Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, GURPS, Champions and others -- played over the Internet, with one person acting as a Game Master and several others playing characters in the game. The Internet has spawned a whole new kind of role-playing, where players send in their actions via email to the Game Master, who then consolidates everyone's desired moves into one turn. That typed up, he or she then sends the turn out to the players. They respond to it, and the cycle begins again.
b) If You Are New To PBeMs
Don't sweat it. They're very easy to get the hang of either playing or running, as long as you don't mind putting in the time (especially if you run a multi-player game). In the late summer of 1995 I had decided that I'd gone just about long enough with no gaming. I'd moved away from my gaming friends, and was dying the slow death of a starving man. So I contacted all my friends who had email access, and asked if they'd be interested in starting up a game of some sort. They said yes, so I began thinking about what I would run. Since I had never played in let alone run a PBeM game, I joined a Cthulhupunk PBeM game and happily designed what I thought was a very intriguing 60 year old German intelligence agent. Alas, Erwin Sparkz never got to play, because after one turn, the GM never wrote me again. *Sigh* Well, I wasn't about to let one little burp deter me, so I simply concentrated on starting my own game. I've always like Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, so I decided to go in that direction. I think that the horror genre comes off particularly well in PBeM's somewhat unusual format, and I think it's worked well to this point. If you want to see what we've done so far, check out the URL I provided above and head for the archives. All of the turns are available in html format.
So, where does this leave you? If you are new but anxious to try, jump right in and start something. It's the best way to learn. Find the old PBeM FAQs (to be found buried somewhere at http://www.irony.com among other places) and any other related material and read up. If it strikes your fancy, go ahead and join someone else's game first, to get your feet on the ground and see what's what. Also try asking people to `lurk' in their games. Many PBeMs fill up quickly, and there's no room for more players (more on that later) -- but people who `lurk' follow along without running characters. I think it's more fun than it sounds, and I encourage people to try. My game currently has nine lurkers, and more are signing on every week. This is an excellent way to see what's happening and *how*, since most GMs are also willing to send player responses out to the lurkers -- so the lurkers get to see what information the GM is going on and building from.
Be aware that everyone runs their own PBeM a little differently.
2. Choosing Players
a) Deciding What to Look For
Each GM has dream players, and each GM has demon players. If you hate munchkins in your regular games, look out for them in the electronic format as well. They're fairly easy to spot. Deciding what you want is really a matter of taste. I like my players' characters to have well-rounded, fully developed personalities, not "I have a +2 sword!" If you don't mind cardboard characters, fine. Just know what you like.
As far as how *many* players you allow in your game, this is entirely up to you. I run one Champions game with a single hero, and it is moving along remarkably smoothly. Co- ordinating multiple players is more challenging, and takes more time. My CoC game currently has six players, and I'd be loath to include more. Not only does one have to weave more and more characters into the fabric of the story, but the chance of someone being late with a turn increases with every player who signs on. An option is to use what I call eeGuest Stars.' More on this shortly.
b) Player Information
If, like me, you want players to put a considerable amount of time into character creation, it's only fair that you give the players a good starting point. Put together a package that includes the basics of your game. Include the genre, system, house rules, perhaps a list or three of useful items like spells, equipment or weapons, and anything else you figure players might need to create a character for your particular game. Over the Internet, it's easy to work with people to tweak the characters. Grant Ivendar, a character in my CoC game, was designed by a fellow who'd never played Cthulhu before. I was able to send him the basics, and his ideas were so good that the character fleshed out perfectly in a few nights, though Derek (the man behind the lunatic) has never even *seen* a Call of Cthulhu book.
The stronger your handout, the better response you'll get with respect to well-developed characters. The package I assembled for my CoC players included the time and place (Boston / New England 1923), the system (Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu), lists of skills and equipment, and a section where the players answered various questions about their prospective investigators. Most CoC players make up very detailed characters, but some will need some assistance to bring real color to the investigator. It's very helpful if the Keeper / GM asks questions like "describe his family," "what are his passions," "what's his favorite food," "what is his favorite place," and "what are his vices / weaknesses?" It can also be helpful to include very specific examples of situations the characters will be reacting in. For example, ask the players what their characters would do if they were shot at, challenged to a duel, etc. What the person running the game is trying to do with this glut of information is get inside the character's head. Remember, in a PBeM game the players cannot micro-manage every action their character takes, so the GM had better know how a particular person would react in a certain situation. The better the GM knows the characters, the more smoothly the game runs. For every decision the player makes for the character, the GM probably makes ten, although they're usually of lesser importance.
The game would bog down horrifically if players were allowed to address EVERY situation, so it's a simple fact that the GM must make most of the minor decisions a character is faced with in a turn. So players, send *everything* you have on your character to the GM. And GMs, ask for *anything* and make sure you are prepared to run the characters by yourself if necessary.
c) How to Find Players
Okay. You've decided you want to run a PBEM game, and have put together some kind of player info package. How does one go about finding players? This is remarkably easy. Post to appropriate newsgroups (alt.horror.cthulhu for Call of Cthulhu games, rec.games.frp.super-heroes for superhero games, rec.games.frp.gurps for GURPS games, rec.games.frp.misc for stuff between the cracks, etc. The newsgroups are rife with people who want to play. There is also a rec.games.pbm group, though they deal mainly with strategic wargames) and then sit back and wait for the responses. They'll come. The Irony games site (remember? http://www.irony.com) also has a bulletin board of sorts for people looking for players and games to join.
Remember, though, that you won't be able to accept everyone who wants to play. Once you've got the characters you want, you can assemble a `waiting list' in case someone drops out or doesn't work out. Then you can put the character in your number 1 spot on the waiting list into the game. You get the idea.
d) What to Ask For
Make your requirements very clear in your post asking for players. Specify the system, the world you'll be using, what kinds of characters or classes you're considering, and what you *expect* of the players, like how frequently you'll want their turn replies.
The more info you provide, the fewer useless responses ("but why *can't* my cyborg play in your 1920s Cthulhu campaign?") you'll get. Making decisions won't always be easy, and you may have to turf some fine characters. Just remember that every character you take on increases your workload.
Make sure the players have all the Internet access they'll need for the game; my CoC game has several web pages. While they aren't *necessary* (one guy in my game can't see `em), they are awfully useful. And beware students with inactive summer accounts... if you want to run your game year-round make sure people can stick with you.
One last thing: let them know how you feel about character generation. In a game like GURPS or Champions, there are no random rolls, so players can't `cheat.' With AD&D, CoC or others, players sometimes fudge the rolls to give themselves better characters (like it matters with Cthulhu...). Let people know how you feel about this. I tweak the numbers as I see fit, anyway, but I let my players know if I lower that Strength from 40 to 15. I find it's easiest, even with "random roll" games to let people simply assign the numbers they want. Then the GM can balance things out.
Oh, and let them know about equipment. They can include a list of what they own, or you can simply assign them some goodies. In my game, I very much de-emphasize the importance of money and `loot'... what you decide is obviously up to you.
3. PBeMs and the World Wide Web
a) Why the Web?
It's my opinion that the www is an *ideal* forum to support an ongoing PBEM game. Web pages provide a stable place where players in the game can talk to each other (if they happen to forget each other's email address, the GM can include everyone on the page), a place where the turns can be archived so the players (and anyone else interested) can go back through the old turns, and graphics, maps, and other useful game-bits can be displayed.
b) Encouraging Player Involvement
It's a great idea to get your players to help out with the web pages. They can write the descriptions for their characters, draw or find pictures of their characters to send you, and help out with all sorts of other stuff. Remember to ask people's permission about putting their email addresses up for all to see, and give credit where credit is due.
Well, whew, I guess that's all for now. Sorry this has been a disorganized mess, but I
felt I just had to get it all out or I'd forget my train of thought. I hope this helps
people get started, and I'd love to hear from people about their experiences. Sorry for
what I'm sure is a pack of typos, and probably bad grammar to boot.
by Harrigan
